Former Kazakhstan PM Akhmetov put under house arrest

Astana: Former prime minister of Kazakhstan Serik Akhmetov has been charged with corruption and placed under house arrest on the orders of a court.This was revealed on Wednesday by the press service of Kazakhstan's Agency

Astana: Former prime minister of Kazakhstan Serik Akhmetov has been charged with corruption and placed under house arrest on the orders of a court.

This was revealed on Wednesday by the press service of Kazakhstan's Agency for Civil Service Affairs and Anti-Corruption, Xinhua reported.

The agency had been investigating a number of serious corruption cases against former executives of the Karaganda region in Kazakhstan.

"Within the cases, Serik Akhmetov is also charged. A district court of Karaganda city approved a pre-trial restriction against him, which means house arrest," said an official of the anti-corruption agency.

No more information was given for legal reasons.

Akhmetov was born on June 25, 1958 in the city of Temirtau in the Karaganda region and was the governor of the region from 2009 to 2012.

He was appointed as Kazakhstan's prime minister in 2012. But earlier this year, he resigned and was appointed as the defence minister, only to resign again in October.